By Micah Friez
Published 10:33 a.m. on July 12, 2024
Kirsten Goldstein often got weird looks when she rode her unicycle to class at Bemidji State University.
Now she’s bringing a thousand more unicyclists to town.
“I was known for riding my unicycle on campus,” Goldstein said. “Now, I’m bringing together two foundational pieces of my life, and I’m realizing that they fit together nice and neat in a place I hold so dear. It’s pretty mind-boggling to me.”
Goldstein, a 2014 BSU graduate and now an adjunct geography faculty member, is also the co-director of Unicon – the World Unicycling Convention and Championships sanctioned by the International Unicycling Federation. The global event has appeared all over the world, but it hasn’t been in the United States since 2002. Not only is it coming back stateside for its 21st iteration, but Goldstein even helped establish Bemidji as the unicycling capital of the world for the next two weeks.
“I think people are gonna have their minds blown,” Goldstein said. “We’re really, really excited to bring all of these cool things to Minnesota, and specifically Bemidji. I think people are going to be really interested in the Americana that Bemidji has to offer.”
Unicon runs from July 14-26 and is open to the public, including many free events around town. The bi-annual convention, essentially the Olympics of unicycling competition, has most recently taken place in France, Korea, Spain, Canada, Italy and New Zealand. But it likely wouldn’t have been Bemidji-bound this summer if it weren’t for Goldstein.
“When we start to look at places, we look at what kind of facilities are available to us. Does it have everything we need?” she said. “And Bemidji really ticked all of the boxes for facilities. The university helps us get dorms for a reasonable price for our competitors. The high school has gym space and a track, and the Sanford Center has a huge arena for us to use.
“There was all of this infrastructure ready, so when we started asking around if this would be feasible, people had a resounding ‘yes.’ And at that point, we were sold on Bemidji as the place to go.”
The convention prides itself on embracing the local culture each year. In Italy, that naturally meant wine-tasting opportunities. In France, it featured a race on a section of the Tour de France course. In Bemidji? It’s all about highlighting the Northwoods scenery. Among many other avenues, visitors will get their fill via a marathon (and then some) with two laps around the lake because “once just wasn’t enough for us,” Goldstein said.
Unsurprisingly, Goldstein is a unicycling veteran. She started riding at age 10 and “was pretty instantly hooked.” She then discovered Unicon and traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark, for the 2008 competition as a 16-year-old.
Immediately, Goldstein flourished within the unicycling community. She thrived at Unicon and, as the years passed and locations changed, embraced the opportunity to travel around the world on one wheel.
“I think my travel with unicycling fed into my love of geography,” said Goldstein, who majored in geography at BSU and could sing the department’s praises all day. “Bemidji is a part of who I am, having gone to school here, and now coming back to teach here. These are two really big pillars of my life and a part of my identity even, and now is the time to have people see the town that has helped inspire me.”
Goldstein is also heavily involved in other areas, serving as the president of the Unicycling Society of America and as the vice president of the International Unicycling Federation.
But for the next two weeks, she’s all things Unicon – and Unicon is all things Bemidji.
“It’s pretty much what I dream about. I’m not being facetious; I literally dream about how Unicon is going to look in Bemidji at this point,” Goldstein said. “Because it’s completely wild to me. And very exciting.”
